LEAP Cards for 2024 Baseball America!
In honor of Leap Day 2024, we've created a special sub-set of LEAP cards for the 2024 Baseball America season. These cards are unlike any others we've created, in that the players can "leap" from "all-star" ability to "super star" ability! In our play-testing, this mechanic has added a really cool narrative and extra depth to these players' personas. Players can play for extended periods at a "super star" level, or see their momentum nipped in the bud by an untimely strikeout or "rookie mistake."
The "leap" cards are designed to be printed double-sided--I know, that can be a real headache depending on the type/quality printer you have. If double-sided printing is a problem, you can print single-sided and just swap cards. Or, for a minimal charge, we'll print them for you, double-sided. In any case, the "leap" mechanic is VERY simple to put into play...
• Start with the "all-star" side of the card. You'll notice that one of the player's qualities is printed in blue. Whenever the player quality uses the blue quality--that is, when the History Maker Baseball game book calls for it and the player is at bat (or, on the mound, in the case of pitchers), the player makes the leap to "super star" status! Flip the card over to the "super star" side, and continue play with the new qualities now in effect.
• Each "super star" card has a quality printed in red. Similar to the previously-described "leap," when the red quality comes into play, the player returns to "all-star" status. It's that simple!
Note that if the red or blue "leap" quality is a semi-quality, the leap doesn't happen unless the quality is activated (by the decider die). For example, if the HMB game book asks if Pauli Pauxtis is PATIENT, and you don't get the decider (i.e., he is not PATIENT), then the leap doesn't happen--Pauxtis remains at "all-star" level.
The "leap" mechanic works for both full and express play. It's TOTALLY optional: all players are already carded with their Baseball America teams in the standard black and white and color card sets, using the "all-star" ratings. There are no team identifiers on the "leap" cards--this will allow you to move players around to different teams if you want to (AFR Steve, here's your green light to move Fernando back to New England!), creating a Baseball America experience that is uniquely YOURS!
Our intent is that these cards would be incorporated into a full-league project, each team has two to five "all-stars," so leaps are only going to happen a couple of times per game. If you choose to play an "all-star" game with ONLY the leap cards, obviously you'll experience more "leaps." Still, the mechanic is simple enough to use, I'm sure you won't be overwhelmed by it even if you're playing a game with ONLY leap cards.
We're not 100% decided on whether "super star" status should carry over to the player's next game, or always re-set back to "all-star." The former scenario seems reasonable, but the latter is perhaps simpler and more workable. We'll leave it up to you!
We encourage you to give these cards a try, and let us know what you think!